I am a passionate lover of ice cream. Unfortunately, I’ve developed a dairy allergy and have recently found that sugar causes me to breakout. My mom got me an ice cream maker for my birthday a few years ago so I could experiment with recipes to work around my allergies. This refreshing green tea mango sorbet was one of the first successful recipes that I developed.

One of my hands down favorite kinds of fish is escovitch fish. It’s a Jamaican dish featuring fried fish that is served with pickled vegetables. I’d eaten it millions of times but had never attempted to make it myself. I figured that if the fish was baked at a high temperature, I could achieve a result similar to frying. Rubbing fish with lemon juice prior to cooking eliminates the rank smell that cooked fish can have and the pickling liquid gives it a really nice flavor.

Around the holidays I decided to try making chocolate mousse. I went online, found a few recipes, and decided to give it a shot. I mixed everything together, put the “mousse” in the fridge, and waited for it to thicken.

It never did.

I’d planned on making challah French toast and figured that I might as well put the “mousse” (that never was) to good use as a custard. Thus chocolate challah French toast was born.

“Selma” provides a snapshot of Martin Luther King, Jr. (portrayed by David Oyelowo) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s (SCLC) efforts to the end the systematic suppression of black voting and other civil rights in the South. While blacks legally had the right to vote, various forms of intimidation along with voter registration tests were used to dissuade them from exercising their right.

I’d recommend checking out “Selma” if you’re interested in history, dramas, social / civil issues, or the Civil Rights Movement. 2015 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches and the Voters Rights Act of 1965. In light of recent events and the Supreme Court voting to amend sections of the Voters Rights Act the movie felt especially relevant to modern times.

One of the most frustratingly saddening and equally inspiring books I’ve ever read is “The Corner” by David Simon and Edward Burns. The non-fiction book follows the lives of residents near the corner of West Fayette and Monroe Streets in West Baltimore over the course of a year in the early 90’s. The authors lay bare how a history of poverty, crime, and drug addiction has torn apart the neighborhood, families, and individuals.

“The Corner” was adapted into a television miniseries for HBO. I watched the series before reading the book and it was actually very good. I’d recommend checking out the series but would also recommend reading the book for more depth and detailed explanations about the neighborhood and Baltimore’s history.